Your Guide to Thriving in the First Week of Your Placement

So you’re starting your placement soon. Nerves are kicking in, overthinking is very much in full force, and you’re starting to ask yourself “Why am I even doing this?”

Firstly, breathe and remember why you applied for a placement (and beat 100s of other students) in the first place…to gain top-tier work experience.

While you may feel as though your first week will be super daunting, we’ve expertly picked five things you should do, to make sure you thrive. Read on to find out more. 

• Don’t stress
• Reach out to previous placement students
• Meet as many people as possible 
• Find your way
• Ask questions! 

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Don’t stress 

Your first week will be about inductions, training and settling in. You won’t be expected to come in all guns blazing, with wild ideas on how you could change the business. You’ll simply just be expected to arrive, be yourself and be eager to learn everything you can. 

I know. I know. It’s easy to overthink, especially when it comes to totally new experiences like your first interview, moving out for the first time or stepping into the corporate world for your placement year or grad role. 

Of course, you’re going to be nervous, and believe you and me so was I. It’s just the not-so-little things like work experience that we need to push ourselves to personally and professionally grow!

You’ve got this.

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Feeling nervous about starting work experience? Give this a read:

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Reaching out to previous placement students

Whether it’s the previous placement student at the company you’re about to start with or one from another company, drop them a message on LinkedIn for some last-minute advice!

The worst that will happen is that you won’t receive a reply, but in most cases, past and present placement students will be super up for giving out advice and tips for your first week.

Your message could go something like this:

If you can’t find the previous placement student from your company, I would always recommend finding someone who went to your university, it always makes it easier to connect with someone who already has something in common with you.

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Meet as many people as possible 

Especially during the first few weeks/months of your placement, get involved in as many key projects, meetings and socials as possible. I said to myself, especially when working from home a lot, to try to message someone new every day, whether that’s to say hi, ask about an issue you’re having or reach out to find out more about a certain aspect of the business. 

When in the office, introduce yourself to people and start new conversations. Throughout the year, I’ve found that the more people you meet and interact with, the more opportunities you’ll have coming your way, within different departments too!

Obviously, say yes to as many of these opportunities as possible, but also know that you are totally okay to push a deadline back if you find that your workload is too busy, or even say no.

 

REMINDER: 

Throughout these meetings or social events keep in mind who you would want to mentor you!

Having a mentor during your placement can be a key highlight of your year. This will be someone who can guide you, encourage new ideas and act as a place to discuss any concerns or queries you may have. It’s totally worth it.

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Not doing a placement year, but hoping to do a summer internship? 

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Find your way

Take every opportunity that comes your way, but also don’t be afraid to create opportunities for yourself. 

You could do this by:

• Asking to sit in or shadow in certain meetings
• Setting up calls with people you want to learn more from
• Expressing your interest in wanting to develop new skills such as presenting 
• Setting goals outside of your normal day-to-day responsibilities to push for more varied work
• Reaching out to different departments to acknowledge that you are happy to support new projects.

This is your year, make the most of learning from industry professionals.

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When researching placements, I also looked at days in the life to get a grasp as to what my day could look like, check out mine here!

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Ask questions! 

Asking questions is the only way you’ll learn and overcome certain tasks and projects. I think as placement students especially we step into our year of work hoping we’ll just know and pick up on how to do everything straight away.

Of course, this isn’t the case. You will have to get people to go over what they mean by “ROI” or “USP”, which is how they’ll learn to know what you’ll need more support on and how you’ll actively learn what you’d like to learn more about!

Asking these questions will show enthusiasm and your passion for the role, so ask away!

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We hope you are feeling a little bit more relaxed about the thought of starting your placement or internship.

Just remember who you are, what you’ve already achieved and that the employers want YOU.

Good Luck!

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